Plant for the handling and utilization of liquid air and the like.



H. DUMARS. PLANT ron THB HANDLING AND UTILIZATION or LIQUID AID AND THBLIKE.

APPLIUATIOI FILED HAB.. 28. 1904.

Patented Apr. 5, 1910.

2 SHEETS-FERRET 1.

N .mi

INVENTOR:

H. DUMARS. PLANT FDR THB HANDLING AND UTILIZATION 0F LIQUID AIN AND THBLIKE. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 28. 1904.

954,268. Patented Apr. 5, 1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

C LD u i@ l@ 'lo i QL Q, s f

y 41 C i mi C bfi-HIF- bq N :gb g E INVENTOR-l I EQ ma/m5,

WITNESSES:

UNrrED STATES Parrain* OFFICE.

HORACE DUMARS, 0F GLEN RIDGE, NEWT` JERSEY.

rLaN'r ron 'rmi HANDLING AND UfrILIza'rroN or `:niacin am Nn THE LIKE.

Specification o! Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 5,1910.

Application tiled Hatch 2B, 1904. Serial No. 200,320.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I Heimen DUMAixs, a citizen of the `United States,residin at Glen Rid e, in the county of Essex and Vtate of New ersey,have invented certain new and useful Improvements inPlants for theHandling and Utilization of Liquid'Air or the Like, of which thefollowing 1s a specification.

This invention rovides eicienxt means .for utilizing liqui air as arefrigerant in the reservationwof fruits or vegetables or the like, as ameans for obtaining valuable ases and for other purposes referred -to inetail hereinafter.A or most of the pui"- poses `of my invention, otheraseous substances than liquid air may be i uefied and utilized withsubstantially equiva ent effect,- and the invention in its broadestsense `includes apparatus for use with such' other gases.

Accor/ding to one feature of my a paratus, and which 'appliesnecessarily on y to gaseous substances4 including nitrogen, the liquidair is evaporated through a radiator, and then the nitrogen (which isfirst evaporated from the air) is discharged Vinto a compartmentcontaining goods to be .pre-

served. The'nitrogen actsby exclusion yof gen or atmospheric 4air, `toretard or pre` vent decay of fruits or vegetables or meats.4

It is also a safe medium in whiclito'store explosives or goods subjectto spontaneous combustion, or-,it may bestoredin a tank and released byautomaticmeans into a compartment for the purpose of extinguish'- ingfiretherein or 'as a d ing medium. Preferably the compartment into whichthe nitrogen is discharged is closed, and the pressure ofthe evaporatingliquid fills the compartment Vwith nitrogen, creating a pressure thereinin excess 'of atmospheric, and thus excluding atmospheric air. The compartme'nt may bei rovided .with a safety gvalve, which can Ee set atanyressure which it'is desired to maintain in t e compartment. 'Whenthenitijogen is entirely evaporated into the preservin orstoragecompartment, the remaining Aliquidoiry'gen may bei evaporated 4thro duitto o, point outside o thenitrogen-compertinent, and if convenien intoAanother comdpartment', where it can storedl and use 1n various ways.

trains, includin .or for any other use,

Y vessel forming a space aroun l1Y a separate con-.

tain embodiments o This system is of at value in fruit cars or trains,and one eature of the invention is the provision of a `plant for suchcars or a train-pipe extendi' from end to en ofeach car, coupling aopposite ends with similar pipes on adjacent cars and carrying one ormore radiators or discharge openi s. for the nitro n, or both, so as touti ize both the cooling and the oxygen-excluding prolperties of theevaporating li uid air. As t e liquid Iair is a proxlmate y four-fifthsnitrogen, it will Ee seen that it rovides a very valuable reserving mium. 'Means are provi ed, preferably automatic, for discharging the revaorating .oxygen outside 4of the car,I pref- 70 era lyutilizing itscooling effect' before dis' charging it.

By means of a'special apparatus forming another .feature of. theinvention` it is possible to vary very' quickly the cooling effect 75obtained' from a vessel ofrliquid air, and in its preferred form thismechanism automatically brings the temperaturedown toJ a desired Vo'intand maintains it there. The principa features of such a mechanism are 30.a means yfer. passing gasor air through thej liquidairfpontainer so asto cool the ga's or air*(which' may be then discharged into thecompartment), .and at the same ,"tiine' to hasten the evaporation oftheliquid air. By 35 i regulatingthe-admission of gas' or atmospheric airby 'a thermostat or similar4 device, an apparatus Vis obtained. whichresponds very quick-lyy and sensitivelyI to changes oftemperature'within the compartment.

Another `feature of the invention is the provision of a. s ecial vesselor container in which liquid air may be stored or transported eithervfor the uses above described with a rapidity of evaporation.Accordingto this m ventin th" container 4consista of an inner vessel inwhich is the liquid air, and an outer the inner one, in which spacethereis a vacuum; the inner 10o vessel being supportedwitliinthe outci` by aspecial means whichI rovides a minimum conduction ofheat to sinnervessel.

Various other improvements in detail are referred -to hereinafter.

The accompanying drawings illustrate .eer-4 theinvention. g Figure 1represents two cars of a fruit preferably runs alo car, so that the coldw 'ch it emits will'pass Yes train in longitudinal section', the fi rebeing largely diagrammatic; Fig. 2 1s a section of the container andautomatic regulator of the und 4 are cr sis-sections of sultable pipes;Fig. 5 is a`diagra`mmatic View of another fruit train system; Fi 6 isanenlargement of portions of Fig. 5; igs. 7 and 8 are sections ofdifferent styles of liquid .air con tainers. i

Referrin noW to the embodiments illustrated, andg especiall to F igs. 1and 2, A is the container and the train-pipe which preferably extendsthroughout its llength within the car, and which carries at-'theopposite ends of the car couplin ,sections C and valves D for closingthe en of the pipe of the rear car of a train. Preferably each carcarries a radiator and an outlet for nitroJ gen, with a valvel for.controlling each of these elements.` The container may be of a capacity-sufiicient to supply only one car (each car 4having its own'container,in which case of course the couplings are unnecessar or it may supplyanynumber of cars, suc as the three shown 1n4 Fig. 5, or one container maybe of sufficient size for an entire train, as for example by using onecar solel for carrying the container in long trains. distance which thetrain has to travel, the

season of the year, and various other con- Preferably the train-pipe Bis tion of the valves controlling the radiators siderations. insulated,as by surrounding it with a vacuum chamber E A(Fi 3), or with mineralwool or felt or the li e F (Fig. 4 The radiators G are referabl in theorm of uninsulated meta coils. lhey may be arran ed as shown in the lefthand car. of Fig. 1, t at is to say,.in the direct line of the coolingcurrent, so that all of the gas passes through them, or they may bearranged, as in the right hand car in a byass of the train-pipe B, witha valve at eac end which regulates the portion of the gas passing throuh the radiator. H arel valved outlets o which one or more may beproyided in each car for rgulatin the admlssion ot nitrogen into thecar. T ese cars are ordinarily closed as tightly as possible and sealed,and when the car is once filled' with nitrogen. at a pressure slightlyabove the atmosphere it will remain substantially in this condition fora long time. A safety valve is pressure wi in the car. The trainpi e Bnear the roof o the downward 'through the dgoods, causirn a circulationof thewarme air arising a r contact .With'the goods. ,This arrangement"is also convenient in permitting the exten.- sion of the valve stemsthrough. thereof of the car, where they 'are easily@ accessible -f'rornthe outside. :Thiais 'because 1t 1s ant shown ,in 1- Figs. 3

hese matters will depend upon the Vthe traimpipe., the pitpe rovided toprevent too great a.

'small container--bemg customary to seal the car doors from thebeglnning to theend of their journey. By nrranging the pipe near the topof the car also, the Hoor space is unobstructed. K is the oxygen pipe,which may pass directlyfrom the container to the outside air, suitableautomatic mechanism being provided within the container ns hereinafterdescribed. The oxygen may if desired pass first through a coil,indicated in dotted lines at before being discharged tothe atmos here. f

As illustrated in Fig. 2, the inner vessel of the container may carry anumber of tubes L passing throu h the li uid air 4and con necting withen spaces li/i, with the upper BOy one of which is connected a pipe Nconnectingwit-h the atmosphere throu yh a valve 0 controlled by the exansible e ement I of any suitable form o thermostat. As the rapidity ofevaporation of the liquid air becomes insuiiicient to make up for theleakage, the -temperature of the' car or other compartment rises themember P of the thermo stat is expended and opens the valve. O, whichadmits air'to the pipe N and the chamber M, whence it passes downthrdugh the tubes L, being circulated by the downward tendency of it asit cools, and out into the car by the pipe Q. A t the same time it heatsthe hquld air and in proportion to. the quantity .of atmospheric a1rassin through, causes an increased rapi ity o evaporation, which withoutvarying the posi-l and the nitrogen outlets, increases the pressure 1nthe train-pipe and therefore the coolin eiiect of the radiators and thequantlty o nitrogen discharged through the outlets. When the temperaturehas been reduced1 to the desired point for `which the thermostat is set,thevalve O closes,and there is n o further admission of cooled at-.mospheric air, and ra iclit4 of the evaporation of the liquidair 1s reneed to substantlall the .oint r uired to make up .for ra ual lea iththe system shown in 1g. 1 the coo mg and preserving supplyfor the entiretrain may be eut oif by closing the valve R, which admits the evaporatedair to at its outer end by e hand valve shown. 'It is mdcnstooirl in allcases that vthereon-o tainer is provided with the usual safety valve toprevent its bursting from the ac-V enmulation of iifiternal pressure.

The relative sitions and details of the plantshown in 1f are notessential to the uns'ention in its broadest aspect.v

Figs. 5 and 6 shv'v4 av liquid air container Aarrangedto supply threecars of a train,a p `suspended by hooks S frpm the roof of the car, andthe train-pipe being arranged underneath' the car, so that except forthe container andthe radiator, the mner space oi the car isventirelyclear being also closed '1 15 connection T carries the current to avalve to close the end of the train-pi e, but to a i mit nitrogen to thebranches passing upward into the cars. In this plant it is proposed touse only the nitrogen in cars having no container and to use either aradiator alone or a radiator in connection with a nitrogen outlet in thecar carrying the container. Although the train may be divided intosections corresponding to the number of soY cars fed by each container,yet it is preferred to couple the train-pipe together throughoutthetrain, and to have all the intermediate end valves open, so that all thecontainers discharge into a common train-pipe and a uniform pressure ismaintained throughout.

In order that the system shall be commercially practicable, ,it is imortant to provide a container which may kept for some time without use,'and without in the meantime losing a great part of its contents byevaporation, and which furthermore shall be stron enough to-stand rathersevere handling. n important feature of this invention is the provisionof such a container adapted for use in connection with the systemsdescribed, and adapted of course for various other uses, such as theshipping of liquid air generally. The principal point of importance inthe container is in the `manner o supporting the inner vessel within theouter vessel. Formerly the usual way has been to support the inhervessel by its neck within the outer vessel. This manner of support,however, requires a very strong and eavy connectlon at the neck, inorder to prevent lateral movement of the inner vessel and to resist thetransverse strains at the connection, and necessarily provides a ath ofconsiderable cross-section alon w ich heat from the outside may be conucted to the inner vessel. By providing connecting or supportin K riouspoints o the inner vessel with the outer, and preferably by arrangingthese connections 1n a sort of truss, I secure a great rigldity of theinner vessel within the outer ,tween the inner and outer vessels. etransported or members which connect va? with a minimum cross-section ofmetal through which heat may be conducted from the outside. Theconnecting members being subjected to no bending strains, that is tosay, being sub'ected only7 to direct tension or compression, o not haveto be of very great cross-section.

Referring now to what is perhaps the simplest example, shown in Fig. 6,the container which desi ate as a whole (in all cases by the letterconsists of an inner vessel X surrounded by an `outer vessel Y, a vacuumbeing maintained or rovided in the space between the two vesse s.Instead of the stiif and large connection between the outer vessel andthe neck of the inner vessel which is ordinarily provided, I s'ubstitutea sort of trussed connection consisting of tension wires Z pullin theinner vessel in opposite directions, an so counterbalancing each otherand holdin the inner vessel rigidly in place. The mem rs Z may be ofvery fine wire, and they may be extended from one end of the outervessel en` tirely to the opposite end of the inner vessel, as shown, soas to provide a very long path of conduction. Similarly to oppose as faras possible the conduction of heat to the inner vessel, the tube' ortubes which carry the vapors outward therefrom, are extended back andforth Within the insulating space to form coils a, thus providing a verylong ath for the heat. The idea may be exten ed by the interposition ofa frame of non-conducting material such as wood be- For exam le in Fig.7 a wooden frame b carries wit in it the inner vessel X, and isxconnected thereto by wire ties or braces Z similar to those alreadydescribed. The wooden frame b is rigidly connected to the outer vessel Yby means of a similar set of long metal struts orties Z. Here any heatwhich is to be conducted to'the inner vessel must first pass the lengthof the members Z', must then be transmitted through a ortion of thewooden frame b, and must a am pass through the wires Z before reac ingthe inner vessel. One or more coils a may be provided in this case also.

Fig. 8 shows a specific construction of the inner'vessel which may beused in the systems above described, and by means of which the nitro enis first evaporated into one conduit'an the oxygn subsequentlyevaporated into another, t e chang? being accom lished automatically. Int is case the va ve for releasing the nitrogen (wh1ch serves also as thenecessary safety valve during transportation ofy the container) is1ndicated at c, being spring pressed to its seat, and being rovided witha long stem d, with a nut e a justably located near the lower end. Theoxygen valve f opens in the opposite direction, and\is provided with asimilar stem and nut la.. A oat j is apertured and slides upand down onthe two valve stems d and g. The pressure within the vessel X isdepended upon to open the valve c and expel the nitrogen under ressureinto the train-pipe or other conduit in which it is to be used. Thefigure shows the position of the float j in full lines when the vesselis substantial-ly full of, liquid air, When about four-fifths of theliquid air,

that is to say all the nitrogen therein, has' been evaporated, the floatfalls to the position indicated in dotted lines, and bears on the twonuts e and h. The weight of the oat is sufficient to open the valve f,and at the same time to close the valve c, so that the remaining gaseseva orated, principally oxygen, pass outward t rough the oxygen pipe Kwhile the nitrogen pipe B is closed. The inner vessel X of this figureis carried in any suitable outer vessel, or is protected against theheat of the outer air in any suitable manner. It is understood in factthat each of the containers herein shown may be provided in addition tothe outer vessel shown, with a surrounding non-conducting vessel of woodor packing material of any sort. It is to be understood also that theseparate outlet K for oxygen is not essentia. The oxygen in many easescan be used in the same pipe as the nitrogen.v Or where this is notdesirable, the float may be arranged to close the nitrogen valve and toretain the oxygen within the vessel under pressure, no outlet beingprovided for the oxygen.

Instead of admitting atmospheric air through the ipe N, Figs. 1 and 2, Imay admit specia ly dried air in stationary plants or wherever else itmay be convenient. This avoids any danger of accumulation of frostwithin the tubes L by reason of the moisture in the atmosphere. Inrailway cars for example I may use the nitrogen which escapes from thecar, this being necessarily dried thoroughly in the manufacture ofliquid air. I show in Fig. 1 in dotted lines a line N for this purpose.The cooled nitrogen passing out through Q in such case would bedischarged outside of the car. Its cooling effect might be utilized byany suitable radiating pipes.J as by a naked pipe B' running through thetrain and open at its rear end. Or atmospheric air may be forced throughthe container,

as by means of pumps driven from the car,

axle.

By connecting the pipes B and K to oposite sides of the inner vessel Xas in Fig. the liquid oxygen may be run oil' at any time by simplyturning the container on its side, air being admitted from the upperpipe and the liquid flowing out of the lower. Any other suitablearrangement of pipe and valve may be used where it is desired to drawofi' the oxygen as a liquid. For eX- ample a long straight tube may passfrom the inner vessel to the outside of the outer vessel with a valve atits inner end contrtlledA by a handle or the like at its outer en I donot in the present application claim the process above described, and Ido not claim specifically certain of the apparatus, but it is not to beunderstood from my failure to claim such matters in this applicationthat I waive my right to claim them in a separate application orapplications.

Though I have described with eat particularity of detail certain emboiments of the invention, yet it is not to be understood therefrom thatthe invention is limited to the particular embodiments disclosed.Various modifications of the apparatus in detail, and in the arrangementand combination of the several elements, may be made by those skilled inthe art, without departure from the invention.

What I claim'is y 1. A plant for refrigerating and preserving andsimilar purposes, comprising in combination a closed compartment, aninsulated container A for liquid air, an insulated conduit B` throughwhich evaporation takes place, and an uninsulated radiator G in aby-pass of said conduit and having a hand valve at each end to regulatethe portion of the gas in said conduit which may pass through saidradiator, the handles of said valves lying outside of said compartment.

2. A plant for utilizing liquid air, comprising a closed compartment, aninsulated container for liquid air within said compartment, means forpassing ordinary air through said container to cause evaporation of theliquid air therein, a thermostat controlling the passage of ordinaryair, and a conduit into whichV evaporation takes place and which has adischarge opening into said closed compartment.

3. A plant for utilizing liquid air, comprising a closed compartment, aninsulated container for liquid air Within said compartment, means forpassing ordinary air through said container to evaporate the liquid airtherein, an uninsulated radiator communicating with the liquid aircontainer, a thermostat controllin the passage of ordinary air, and aninsu ated conduit into which evaporation takes `place and which has adischarge opening into said closed compartment.

4. A plant for Autilizing liquid air comprising a container for theliquid air, means for passing ordinary air through said container, aradiator communicating with the liquid, and a thermostat controlling theassage of ordinary air, and a compartment In witness whereof, I havehereunto 1n which said radiator and the discharge orisigned my name inthe presence of two subce for the ordinary air and said therscribingwitnesses. mostat are located, whereby the temperature HORACE DUMARS. 5in said compartment may be quickly bron ht Witnesses:

down to a desired point and automaticsly DOMINGO A. UsINA, maintainedthere. THEoDonm T. SNELL.

